Most industrial companies talk tough about pricing pressure like they invented the concept. This one has managed exactly that since the 1880s, when it undercut European glassmakers in a brutal price war to prove domestic manufacturing could work. It now runs a global coatings operation spanning aerospace, automotive, and industrial markets, and just posted six straight quarters of organic growth despite raw material inflation.
PPG Industries (PPG)
Business Quality Score: 96 / 99
Quick Tip
To keep your portfolio strong, stay on top of the financials for each company you hold. Solid companies mean better returns, so be sure to check in on their quarterly and annual numbers.
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Interesting stocks usually score 80+ on the Financial Scale, with top players hitting 90+. If that score dips below 80, it might be a good time to consider cutting ties before things take a turn.
PPG Industries, Inc. (PPG) is a Pittsburgh-based global supplier of paints, coatings, and specialty materials, founded in 1883 as the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company. It operates through three segments, Global Architectural Coatings, Performance Coatings, and Industrial Coatings, serving customers in more than 70 countries.
Dividend engine: 55 years, comfortably funded
PPG pays $2.96 per share annually, a 2.64% yield, with a 42.41% payout ratio and a 5-year dividend-growth rate of +32.00%. That’s conservative for an industrial company, leaving plenty of earnings for acquisitions and buybacks without threatening the payout. The 55-year streak places PPG among the market’s elite dividend growers, built by weathering multiple recessions and inflation cycles without pausing.
Q2 2026: revenue beat, EPS roughly flat
For Q2 ended June 30, 2026, PPG reported net sales of $4.495 billion, up 7.2% year over year, beating the $4.37 billion consensus, with adjusted EPS of $2.23 versus $2.22 a year earlier, per the July 28, 2026 release on BusinessWire. Net income was $439 million, reported EPS was $1.96, and organic growth hit 4%, the sixth straight quarter of organic growth. Management reaffirmed full-year adjusted EPS guidance of $7.70 to $8.10.
Growth story: aerospace and packaging carry the load
PPG’s differentiated businesses are doing the heavy lifting. Aerospace coatings drove much of the quarter’s strength, packaging coatings posted double-digit growth, and Industrial Coatings volumes rose 5%, outpacing the broader industry by 300 basis points. Performance Coatings sales rose 7%, with acquisitions contributing 3 points of that growth.
The company that fought a war over glass prices
Founders John B. Ford and John Pitcairn built their first plate glass factory in Creighton, Pennsylvania, to break America’s dependence on European glass. Their aggressive pricing sparked the “Great Plate Glass War” of the 1880s, which PPG won, becoming the first commercially successful U.S. plate glass maker.
Final take
PPG offers a 2.64% yield, $2.96 annual dividend, 55 years of hikes, +32.00% 5-year dividend growth, and a 42.41% payout ratio. The business is backed by six straight quarters of organic growth and reaffirmed guidance, but soft automotive refinish demand and raw material inflation remain real pressures. Business Quality Score: 96. That’s elite territory, but margin pressure in auto-exposed segments is worth watching before treating this as a set-and-forget holding.